


A real never ending nightmare

by tschulie



Category: Harry Potter - J. K. Rowling
Genre: Podcast: Fanatical Fics and Where to Find Them
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-07-16
Updated: 2020-07-16
Packaged: 2021-03-04 20:01:29
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 808
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/25292062
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/tschulie/pseuds/tschulie
Summary: Hogwarts is dealing with an increased amount of Boggarts and Neville is constantly facing his biggest fear: potions master Severus Snape
Comments: 2
Kudos: 13





	A real never ending nightmare

**Author's Note:**

> This Fanfiction was inspired by a discussion on the FanaticalFics patreon Discord. There are a few references sprinkled in but nothing necessary to the plot, I would however advise you to listen to every episode of the Podcast because it's amazing.
> 
> Please excuse possible mistakes, I'm not a native speaker :)

It was the beginning of a normal school day at Hogwarts school of Witchcraft and Wizardry. The sun creaked through the closed curtains on his fourposter bed in Gryffindor tower and woke him. The first thing he heard were his roomates who were already getting ready for breakfast.

A few minutes later Neville stumbled out of bed, rubbing his eyes as he shuffled towards his trunk. His fellow Gryffindor 5th-years had already left for the Great Hall, but Neville was still searching for his tie. He was a late riser and it didn't occur to his sleepy brain that he could just accio it.

Finally fully clothed he climbed through the portrait hole. He had already missed todays Breakfast and a show and after he had returned to his dormitory once again for forgotten books he was now on the way to his first class of the day. 

As he turned the corner he came across potions Professor Severus Snape. Wand raised he shouted "Riddikulus!" and just a moment later Snape's hair, skin and robes were pink. Neville laughed out loud at the sight and with a pop the Professor vanished. 

He didn't vanish the real man of course, it had just been a Boggart. The amount of Boggarts roaming around Hogwarts had increased rapidly in the last couple of weeks. 

Since Professor Umbridge, their hated Defence against the Dark Arts teacher, and the Ministry of Magic had declared using spells outside of classes as forbidden, one would meet Boggarts all over the place. 

Neville didn't care about obiding that order though, he would rather risk detention than constantly meeting the Professor he feared the most. 

Said Professor was the reason for the existence of most of these dark beings anyway. Boggarts are made of pure fear and therefore coalesce in places dense with fear, like the dungeon classroom of the intimidating potions master. 

It was not uncommon that a perfect Snape-double appeared in the middle of a lesson. That always left the students confused as to who the actual professor was, because both of them went around insulting and humiliating students. 

You might think, that a staff member who is the biggest fear of a quite large percentage of students should be fired, Snape had somehow managed to keep his position for over a decade though.

Boggarts usually hid in dark and small spaces. Most of them lived in Hogwarts' various broomcupboards. The problem there was, that they were constantly disturbed by snogging couples, so they were wandering through the corridors. 

Riddikulus was one of the few spells Neville almost always mastered perfectly. He had confidence in himself, since it had worked out on first try two years ago, when he had first learned the spell in Professor Lupin's DADA class. 

It was one of his easiest exercises to fight off Boggarts and by now he was used to vanishing two or three of them on every walk through the castle. 

Fear of Snape, Umbridge, the hissing Veela parents and Brian with his swords (*shing* *shing*) had led to an excessive creation of Boggarts these days, one might even say that Hogwarts had become a Boggart factory. 

The common rooms usually were a safe space, because they were filled with joy. Every other part of the school was a nightmare coming true for everyone, as they were constantly facing their biggest fear.

Neville was now scurrying through the entrance hall on his way to the greenhouses, excited for his favourite subject Herbology, when he heard a too familiar snarling voice say: "Longbottom, you better hurry, you don't want to lose more housepoints than you already have, you useless lump, do you?"

"Great, another one" he thought to himself. Pointing his wand at the man he mumbled "Riddikulus". "What did you just say?" he heard the nasal, drawling voice again. 

His spell apparently hadn't been strong enough. "Riddikulus!" he repeated, this time louder and more articulated. "Longbottom... Detention! For using magic out of class, and 20 points from Gryffindor." Snape said, his eyebrows raised at the boy in front of him. 

Now it dawned on Neville: the person in front of him was not a Boggart at all. He had run into his actual Professor!

"P-p-p-professor, I'm s-s-sorry! I thought you were a B-b-b-boggart..." he stuttered. "A Boggart? why on earth would I be a Boggart? Now go to class, I'll have the unpleasant experience of being in your vicinity for long enough! 7pm. My office. And don't you dare being late or my punishment will be way worse!"

"A-a-alright P-professor S-s-snape!" Neville answered, but the potions master had already reached the stairs leading down to the Dungeons by the time he finished his sentence.

His knees were still shaking as he left for the Greenhouses. This was even worse than the Boggarts, a real never ending nightmare.


End file.
